This invention relates to the control of vehicular traffic at secure facilities. More specifically the present invention relates to a failsafe method and apparatus for preventing unauthorized vehicles from entering the facility and potentially causing damage and injury to facility and personnel.
Heretofore, vehicular access to facilities typically was controlled by operating a barricade such as a sliding or swinging metal gate or a moveable barrier or door operated by a security guard. These gates, barriers and doors, by necessity of construction, cannot be made strong enough to prevent a vehicle from crashing through the gate and thereby approaching or reaching its target and causing damage or injury.
Furthermore, the barricade may be operated by any individual if the security guard is immobilized. Additionally, if the barricade is electrically operated and if power fails or is deliberately interrupted when the barricade is in the open position, it so remains and leaves the facility unprotected.
At some facilities permanent or semi-permanent traffic diverters such as large pipes have been laid horizontally on the roadway to force the traffic to weave between the diverters. The purpose of such devices is to slow traffic down and allow guards to attempt to stop the vehicle by whatever means they have available before the vehicle reaches its intended target.
Another method used at some facilities is the parking of moveable obstructions, such as loaded large dump trucks across the entrance which can be easily moved once the guard or operator is immobilized.
All of these prior security systems have proven to be either ineffective, costly, temporary, or have needlessly impeded and obstructed vehicular traffic to the facility. Furthermore, none of these sytems is failsafe or protected from unauthorized tampering.